Tracking the Shorebirds 2009

For the third year in a row, the Shorebirds’ mid-season break gives me an excuse to follow the baseball fates of those players who I’ve selected over the last 3 1/2 seasons as the Shorebird of the Week. There’s no shortage of players I looked into for 2007 and 2008 still active at some level, from the most obscure leagues to The Show.

In 2006 I selected the first 22 players who achieved SotW honors. It turned out to be a diverse class, with two of the most successful “alumni” future inductees into the yet-to-be-created but forthcoming Shorebird of the Week Hall of Fame. In all, ten of those players are still playing ball, mostly farther up the Orioles’ chain. Playing with the Frederick Keys is Chorye Spoone (who is on the disabled list, but is also listed on the Orioles’ 40-man roster) while Bowie’s roster has Brandon Erbe (currently on a rehab assignment with Aberdeen) and Jon Tucker. Aberdeen is also the temporary home of infielder Blake Davis, who is listed there as being on rehab duty.

Other members of the class of 2006 are farther along. We all know that two former Shorebirds of the Week made their major league debuts this season; of the pair Brad Bergesen continues to thrive in Baltimore’s starting rotation while David Hernandez put in some quality starts in a brief stint with the O’s in May and June. He’s now pitching at Norfolk and joins fellow 2006 and 2007 SotW honoree Brandon Snyder on the Tides’ roster – Snyder was promoted to AAA over the weekend.

The 2006 crop has also seen its share of players who didn’t make it with the Orioles. Most are now out of baseball, but three toil on – one in another organization and two with independent league teams. Lorenzo Scott Jr. was actually plucked by the Florida Marlins in the 2006 Rule 5 Draft and continues playing in their organization with the AA Jacksonville Suns of the Southern League. Meanwhile, two other veterans of independent baseball continue trying to make a splash there as Trevor Caughey plays with the Edmonton Capitals of the Golden Baseball League and Vito Chiaravalotti plays closer to his home with the Atlantic League’s Camden Riversharks. Unfortunately, it appears that my 2006 Shorebird of the Year, Ryan Finan, is one of those no longer playing.

With three players being repeat honorees in 2007, there were 19 new Shorebird of the Week selections that year. As they aren’t as far along in their development, more of them still have a chance to catch on with the Orioles – 12 began the season in organized baseball but Chris Vinyard was released from Frederick in May. Still playing there are Pedro Beato, David Cash, and Billy Rowell. The Bowie Baysox are loaded with a good share of 2007 honorees, with Wilfredo Perez on their disabled list and Chad Thall, Miguel Abreu, Tim Bascom, Ryan Ouellette, and 2007 Shorebird of the Year Danny Figueroa all on their active roster. We even have a 2007 honoree remaining with the Shorebirds, as Victor Castillo is currently on our disabled list after appearing in a handful of games earlier this season.

Unlike the earlier 2006 group, none of the 2007 SotW honorees who aren’t in the Orioles chain are playing in an independent league (that I’m aware of); however, Brandon Tripp is playing for the Jupiter Hammerheads of the Florida State League – another Florida Marlins affiliate. The FSL would be comparable to the Carolina League where Frederick plays.

Last season was unique in that I picked 22 “new” Shorebirds of the Week – none of 2008’s players were repeat selections. By and large, most of these players have moved up to the Frederick Keys. That list includes Pedro Florimon Jr., last season’s Shorebird of the Year Sean Gleason (who also had a stint with Bowie), Matt Angle, Wally Crancer, Brett Bordes, Cliff Flagello, Tyler Henson, Zach Britton, Brian Parker, and Nate Nery (who advanced after a brief stay here at Delmarva.) The Keys’ disabled list has 2008 honorees Matt Tucker and Ryan Adams.

Two other Shorebirds of the Week from 2008 have made the jump to Bowie. It’s no surprise that Joe Nowicki skipped Frederick, but John Mariotti (who was injured for a good portion of 2008) is now pitching for the Baysox. The news is not so good on the injury front for Tony Butler, who has languished on Delmarva’s disabled list so far in 2009.

There are three players from last season who have made a repeat appearance in Delmarva for 2009 and are still here at the halfway point. While Brendan Monaghan has fought an injury for much of the campaign, Joe Mahoney and Cole McCurry are both key contributors to the Shorebirds’ success thus far.

Unfortunately, some of last year’s SotW picks have seen their careers downslide or come to an end. It surprised me to find last year’s main closer for the Shorebirds, Mick Mattaliano, on Aberdeen’s roster, while Luis Noel is back where he came from and pitching for the Orioles’ entry in the Dominican Summer League. And it appears that the dream has come to an end for Anthony Martinez and Brian Valichka as my search for them on the MiLB and independent league websites was fruitless.

So far all 11 of my 2009 choices (which include the aforementioned Mahoney and McCurry) are still playing for the Shorebirds, but Richard Zagone and Ron Welty will have a chance to play one extra game as they represent the Shorebirds on the South Atlantic League’s Northern Division All-Star team. I’ll update this post once I see how they fared in the contest being played in Charleston, West Virginia this evening.

Update, as promised: Richard Zagone drew the start for the North All-Stars and threw a scoreless first inning, fanning two but allowing a hit and a walk. He did not allow a run, though. Ron Welty came on as a substitute in the top of the 6th, and after striking out his first time up he ripped a base hit in the bottom of the 9th and came around to eventually score the winning run for the North squad in their 8-7 win!

Author: Michael

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